Joy!

But, you know what? Behind all this humor, the off-color jokes, the eye-catching banners, the inflammatory comments about already-victimized ethnic groups, and the videos with bad sound quality, there hides a hideous, pus-oozing, gangrenous secret. That secret being the fact that I don’t know Japanese and this is all a hoax to fool you:

You REALLY Don’t Need This. No, Really.

You really don’t need this. I mean, you really don’t need to buy this. You need this even less than you needed the QRG. I mean, buying stuff? Are you joking? In THIS economy?! _{(This is a great break-up line, by the way: “Stacy, I really care about you, mmm kay? But I just feel that it’s not right for us to keep seeing each other in this economy…”, and then next day you’re like “Yeah, dude, I totally broke up with my girlfriend last night…you know, with this economy…”)}
Seriously — why are you even online now? You should just turn off your computer and the lights to save on power…

Also, Japanese literature of all forms is produced in massive quantities. The Japanese language was the first in the world in which a novel was written. The top FIVE highest-circulation newspapers on the planet (including the only newspapers with circulations exceeding 10 million copies) are all published in Japan, in Japanese — not the US, not the China, not the India, but the Japan. Japanese is also the language with the most blogs — more than English, even. There is no shortage of “Japanese sentences” in the world, out there, for free, even.

So Why Would Anyone Even Want This?
_{(And why have I used the word “even” in three consecutive sentences?)}

For the same reason people would want the QRG. Because, when you’re first starting out, things are daunting; things are confusing; everything is new. There’s a lot on one’s proverbial plate. One less thing to worry about can make things just that much quicker and easier. The key words here are ease, convenience and, to quote a Simpsons episode, “can’t somebody else do it?”. Sure, you could go find all your first X hundred sentences yourself, but if the feeling is right and none of the major religions of the world have a problem with it (?) then…you know…one or two sentence packs here or there never killed anyone…hopefully…probably.

Can’t somebody else do it?

Somebody else can do it, my friend. And he already has. Just for you.

What’s In The Package

“My First Sentence Pack” (I am desperately resisting the urge to call it MFSP…must stop…creating…acronyms) comes as a special, permanent, online-delivered, digital, learner-friendly, infinitely copy-pastable book containing more than 560 Japanese sentences, with English translations and brief explanations where necessary; it is constantly cleaned, corrected and updated, always giving you the latest, greatest version. Check out this sample page.

Being in electronic format makes the sentence pack ideal, because you’re saved all that slow typing. Those who know, know that what really kills about typing isn’t the actual sentence, but all the ancillary info that goes along with it. Not to mention the increased risk of error. Until now, beginners have mostly had to rely on beginner books (as I did), which are, well, books, on paper. Now all you need do to get your sentences is copy and paste. The idea here is to bridge the gap between “0” and “independently using native [electronic] media sources, such as blogs”.

Each example sentence is made up of two basic parts: “front” and “back”, just like actual paper flashcards. The front carries the sentence, the back its translation, kanji readings and any extra info if applicable.

A Word On SRSing And Sentences

While this sentence pack is and will be useful and has been made with the best of intentions, please remember that it is not a substitute for exposure to real Japanese. That is, Japanese made by and for native users.

These sentences have been written/chosen as good representatives of fun, simple natural usage. They steer clear of a lot of the sleep-inducing, hyper-didactic, unnaturally anglicized stuff [case in point: incessant pronoun use] that seems to be common in Japanese beginner materials. However, they (1) by no means represent “everything you will ever need to know”, (2) are slightly biased towards things that are easy to translate into/explain in English, and (3) were selected for an audience of non-Japanese speakers (not that you’re not Japanese, but… ) — at some subtle level, this “contaminates” them.

Fundamentally, the Japanese you want is the Japanese that Japanese people get, not the Japanese that someone, even a handsome, charming, well-meaning someone, prepared and selected for you. In other words: these sentences are like training wheels — use them, but you want to ride the bike for real as soon as you can. That’s where all the fun is, and it’s where the bulk of your learning, both in terms of time and quantity, will take place.

In any case, Japanese is full of things that are hard to translate/explain, or seem complex when explained, but that are super easy to understand when you just expose yourself to the language as it is.

So, to conclude, keep being Japanese, keep experiencing more Japanese, and things will get clearer and clearer. Thank you again, and have fun!

さあ、to the sentences!

Buy It Now, Baby !

You know the drill: All that’s left to do is click. Your copy is waiting for you. Buy it now. Do it. You need this. You want this. You deserve this. You’re worth it. Treat yourself. Those aren’t blemishes on your face, they’re beauty spots. Et cetera.

You can get your My First Sentence Pack either by itself or value-bundled together with the QRG/Quick Reference Guide. Choose whichever path suits you best. I’m open-minded like that.

OR

• My First Sentence Pack Standalone OR
• My First Sentence Pack + QRG Value Bundle (save over 25% )

Both the standalone MFSP (whatever, mang, you know you like acronyms) and the value bundle also include:

• 1 free month of AJATT Plus —- premium multimedia AJATT content combined with access to the AJATT+ Forum: The Most Intelligent, Civilized and Trolless Forum in the Multiverse (for free!)
  • Your AJATT Plus subscription will automatically continue beyond the first, free month unless you cancel it.
  • If you don’t want the subscription at all, you may cancel it at any time (even right after your purchase) and still keep your free month of AJATT Plus anyway. Aren’t I awesome?
• 2 (count ’em — two) super special secret freebies. I’m not saying there’s going to be something like another sentence pack inside there, or some sort of MCD mini-guide (a subset of the MCD Revolution Kit) inside, because, no, the super special secret freebies are…a secret, and telling you what the secret is would ruin the surprise, I mean, duh.
• All 100% DRM-free. No DRM whatsoever: I hate DRM. I trust you. You’re a good person. I know you’re not going to screw me over. I believe you should and must have the right to remix (copy and paste, etc.) information for your personal, educational use. I believe that information is for fiddling with, not just looking at. I believe that you, a paying customer, should and must not be treated like a freaking criminal and subjected to ludicrous, draconian restrictions on how you manipulate data you paid for for you own consumption. MFSP is easy to copy and paste and otherwise manipulate digitally for your personal, educational use, so that you can get the maximum possible value out of it.

Satisfaction, Or Your Money Back

Buy it. Try it. No likey? No payey. If you are less than happy with the MFSP, don’t sit there feeling bad , just contact me for a full refund. More AJATT products are always on their way, so in the exceeeeedingly unlikely event that you don’t like this one, I’m sure there’ll eventually be something you do like. Until then, take a refund .